Obama Inauguration Schedule
With Barack Obama set to be inaugurated Tuesday as the nation＇s 44th president, the day figures to be one of the most-covered live events ever -- on television, radio or online.
Estimates put the potential worldwide audience for Obama＇s swearing-in in the billions, a figure that could dwarf viewership numbers for the Super Bowl and Academy Awards and reach heights ordinarily seen only by the Olympics and the World Cup.
Following is an hour-by-hour account of what to look for as you keep up with the day's proceedings:
5 a.m.
CNN kicks off the day's live event coverage from Capitol Hill. C-Span and the other broadcast and cable networks begin their day at 6 a.m., so expect to see a lot of talking heads doing a lot of talking. There will also be copious live shots of empty stages and digital maps of the parade route as the anchors and correspondents fill hours talking about what their viewers are about to see.
8 a.m.
Security gates open for ticketholders for the swearing in and the National Mall. Expect to see shots of cold, but excited attendees slowly making their way through security gates at entrances to the swearing-in viewing areas and on the National Mall. Inauguration officials have advised anyone with tickets to arrive no later than 9 a.m. to get through security. Nonetheless, expect to see people in lines well before and after the official program starts.
10 a.m.
Now the show starts for real. The swearing-in ceremony begins with music from the Marine Band, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will issue the call to order and make brief welcoming remarks before making way for probably the day's most controversial figure, Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.
Obama infuriated gay and lesbian groups when he announced earlier this month that Warren, a conservative evangelical megachurch minister, would deliver the invocation. The Obama camp attempted to defuse the situation by naming Gene Robinson, an openly-gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, to give the invocation at Sunday's inauguration opening ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial.
Warren, 54, has a long record of staunchly opposing same-sex marriage, though he most certainly will deliver a nondenominational prayer Tuesday.
10:30 a.m.
After a song by Aretha Franklin, who also sang at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration, Joe Biden will be sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens, 88, is the court's oldest and most liberal justice and, to put it gently, since the justices have lifetime appointments, the most likely to be replaced during Obama's term.
This will be Biden's second swearing-in ceremony in as many weeks. He took the oath for his seventh term in the Senate Jan. 6, then officially resigned the seat Jan. 15.
11 a.m. The third musical interlude features composer and Floral Park native John Williams (noted for his "Star Wars" scores, among other accomplishments), violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill.
Once Williams and the foursome are through playing, Obama and John Roberts, the Supreme Court's chief justice, will take center stage.
The swearing-in duties will be Roberts' first, making him the 14th chief justice to swear in a president.
Every elected president since John Adams has been sworn in by the chief justice. (In 1789, George Washington was sworn in by Robert Livingston, the New York state chancellor, and William Cushing, an associate justice, in 1793.)
Noon
Obama's inaugural address is perhaps one of the most anticipated political speeches in modern American history. It will be televised on scores of television networks worldwide, giving Obama an unprecedented platform to deliver his message to the world. Expectations for the speech are understandably enormous, so look for Obama to give a speech heavy on soaring language, and light on specifics.
The address will be followed by a poem composed and read by New York-born poet Elizabeth Alexander. The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery will follow with a benediction and the program concludes with a playing of the national anthem by the U.S. Navy band Sea Chanters.
12:30 p.m. After Obama, now President Obama, finishes his inaugural address, he will accompany now-former President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony at the Capitol and then attend a luncheon at the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The three-course meal featuring stewed and scalloped oysters and an apple desert, is inspired by Lincoln's culinary favorites. Obama, Biden and their families, the Supreme Court justices, cabinet designees and the congressional leadership are expected to attend.
At 1:25 p.m., Bush will make "brief remarks" at a departure ceremony.
2:30 p.m.
The 56th Inaugural Parade will make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, with groups including the Mobile Azalea Trail Maids from Alabama, and the University of Delaware Fightin Blue Hen Marching Band, having traveled from all over the country to participate.
Despite the predicted cold weather -- forecasts are calling for highs near 30 and chance of snow -- expect Obama to emerge from his limousine to walk a stretch of the route.
In doing so, he would follow a tradition established by Jimmy Carter that now seems ingrained in presidential inauguration. Carter's 1.5-mile walk, which he made with his wife, Rosalynn, was designed to show that the country had emerged from the stain of the Watergate scandal. The symbolism struck home, and President Bill Clinton and both Presidents Bush also walked a stretch of the parade route.
6 p.m. The parade marks the end of the inauguration ceremonies, but Washington parties begin at 6 p.m., when the inaugural balls begin with the Commander-in-Chief's Ball and the Eastern States Ball.
There's also a ball that touts itself as "the largest gathering of peace activists without a protest" ( Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez are attending), a Funk 4 Peace ball and a ball thrown by the D.C. municipal government to highlight the capital's lack of representation in the federal government.
The Obamas are expected to attend 10 official inaugural balls: The Commander-in-Chief's Ball, the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, a Youth Ball, five official regional balls -- including the Mid-Atlantic ball at the Washington Convention Center, for invitees from New York and four other states and the District of Columbia -- and Home States Balls thrown by Hawaii and Illinois for Obama and Delaware and Pennsylvania for Biden.
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